The Truth:
The Battle of Uhud happened a year after the Battle of Badr, when the Quraish at Mecca set out to avenge their loss. Badr had been a hastily-organized affair for the Quraish, who were simply trying to defend their caravans from Muslim raiders. The raids continued afterwards, all but forcing them to retaliate.
Muslim apologists often leave these facts out and even claim that the Muslims were fighting in defense of their city. In fact, the Meccan army bypassed Medina, both before and after the battle. Their only goal was to punish Muhammad (which they did) and end the war (which they did not).
So strong is the cult of personality in Islam that most Muslims fail to recognize the
contrast between Muhammad's word and deeds.
There are many places where Muhammad says that he trusts Allah to protect
him:
O Messenger! Make known that which hath been revealed unto thee from thy Lord, for
if thou do it not, thou wilt not have conveyed His message. Allah will protect
thee from mankind. Lo! Allah guideth not the disbelieving folk. (Quran
5:67, see
also 8:30)
Nor can a soul die except by Allah's leave… (Quran
3:145)
He also encourages his men to believe that they will be safe, even to the point
of being reckless in battle:[Auf bin Harith asked]
“O Allah’s apostle, what makes Allah laugh with joy at
his servant?" He answered, “When he plunges into the midst of the enemy without
mail.” (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 445, Ibn Kathir v.2 p.272)
As it turns out, Auf took his advice and did exactly that:
Auf drew off the mail-coat that was on him and threw it away: then he seized his
sword and fought the enemy till he was slain. (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 445, Ibn Kathir v.2 p.272) Auf’s fate at the Battle of Badr must have made an impression on Muhammad
because the next time the prophet of Islam went into battle (at Uhud) he was
sure to put on two coats of armor beforehand (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 560).
Other parts of the Battle of Uhud seem to support the idea that Muhammad was
having second thoughts about the ability of Allah and his angels to protect him. He not only planted
himself firmly at the rear of his army, but also made
sure that he was surrounded by a small group of bodyguards. This was a strategic
decision that actually backfired when the enemy unexpectedly outflanked the
Muslims and advanced directly into his area.
Allah’s angels were nowhere to be found, and Muhammad, desperate to save his own
skin, began selling paradise to the men around him in exchange for their lives:
It has been reported on the authority of Anas b. Malik that (when the enemy got
the upper hand) on the day of the Battle of Uhud, the Messenger of Allah (may
peace be upon him) was left with only seven men from the Ansar and two men from
the Quraish. When the enemy advanced towards him and overwhelmed him, he said:
Whoso turns them away from us will attain Paradise or will be my Companion in
Paradise. A man from the Ansar came forward and fought (the enemy) until he was
killed. The enemy advanced and overwhelmed him again and he repeated the words:
Whoso turns them away, from us will attain Paradise or will be my Companion in
Paradise. A man from the Ansar came forward and fought until he was killed. This
state continued until the seven Ansar were killed (one after the other). Sahih Muslim
19:4413)
As the passage relates, seven men stepped forward, one-by-one, to be slain in
defense of Muhammad on the promise that they would be his “companion in
paradise.” (None appeared to question why Muhammad himself was so anxious to
avoid the wonderful hereafter).
One man named Abu Dujana “made his body a shield for the apostle” (Ibn
Ishaq/Hisham
573). According to the account, his back bristled with arrows until he
fell over dead.
For his part, Muhammad managed to flee the battle for the safety of a nearby mountain:
“The apostle made for a rock on the mountain to climb it. He had become heavy by
reason of his age, and moreover he had put on two coats of mail so when he tried
to get up he could not so. Talha squatted beneath him and lifted him up until he
settled comfortably up on it.” (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 577) As one might expect, the period immediately following the rout of the Muslims at
Uhud was somewhat of an awkward moment for the self-proclaimed prophet, given
the smack that he had been talking after the victory at
Badr (See
Sura 8). Uhud had been a revenge attack by the Quraish for what he had done to them in the earlier battle. Now many
Muslims had been killed and their bodies mutilated afterwards.
Even Muhammad, the
apostle of mighty Allah, had been injured in the face from a thrown rock
(perhaps as he was peeking out from behind the others in search of somewhere to
run). The blood seemed to be at odds with his pretentious claim of being Allah’s
chosen one, given that his god obviously declined to catch the rock in midair.
At first Muhammad appears to try to regain the confidence of his people with a
boastful war story to distract attention from his facial injury. He claimed to
have killed the man who did it:
[Muhammad] used the water to wash the blood from his face and as he poured
it over his head he said: “The wrath of Allah is fierce against him who bloodied
the face of His prophet” (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 576).
Muhammad also forbade the dead from being brought back and buried at Medina,
which would have deepened the humiliation of his fledgling religion and further
undermined confidence in him (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 586).
What ensued next was a series of excuses to explain the defeat at Uhud, which
are detailed in the third sura of the Qur’an. The weakest excuse offered is that
the debacle was necessary to “test” the believers so that “Allah may know those
who believe” (3:140).
Perhaps someone then asked the obvious question of how an omniscient Allah was
otherwise unable to know this, which inspired further excuses.
Muhammad’s next try was to blame a contingent of “hypocrites” who were not with them in battle (3:167). But this had also been the case at Badr,
where the Muslims had been victorious due to Allah’s angels (seen only by
Muhammad, of course). Why no angels this
time?
Finally, Muhammad simply blamed the sin of the people for their own defeat and
told them to beg for his forgiveness. They had pushed him into a battle that he
did not want, and then fought poorly, even “abandoning the messenger” (3:153)
whose presence Allah had been so generous in blessing them with (3:164). Clearly
the people had let Muhammad down, but he and Allah promised to be magnanimous if
the people acknowledged their error (3:152).
For good measure, Muhammad also added that the Devil made them do it (3:155).
The master of psychology eventually regained the confidence of his people,
particularly after a fresh series of raids against Meccan caravans that
continued the flow of pilfered goods into the community.
Muslim sycophancy
remains to this day. Compare the historical account of Muhammad’s desperation
and flight at Uhud with this commentary by 20th century translator,
Yusuf Ali, that is downright hilarious against the historical account:
“There was no rout… Had it not been for [Muhammad’s] firmness, courage, and
coolness, all would have been lost.” (Yusuf Ali margin note #442).
As for Muhammad, he was no longer taking chances on "Allah’s protection."
In fact, he actually immortalized the obligation of his people to protect him
with their weapons in the Quran, even to the point of allowing his bodyguards
to carry them into a mosque if he was present:
When thou (O Messenger) art with them, and standest to lead them in prayer, Let
one party of them stand up (in prayer) with thee, Taking their arms with them:
When they finish their prostrations, let them Take their position in the rear. And let the other party come up which hath not yet prayed - and let them pray
with thee, Taking all precaution, and bearing arms... (Quran
4:102) Although part of Allah’s “eternal word” to man, these instructions concerning
his personal bodyguards have absolutely no relevance today, unless it is to
encourage Muslim fundamentalists in their persistent practice of hiding weapons in
mosques and even
staging terror attacks from them. Finally, there is strong
evidence that Muhammad died from having been poisoned,
or at least that he thought this was the case. His death was not pleasant. According to his biographer,
“he suffered much pain” (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 1006).
Perhaps one reason that contemporary Muslims are unwilling to accept this
account is that it contradicts the claim of divine protection. But even the
Quran mentions that by then “Allah’s apostle” was relying on his own security
service.
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